Pulling the Benghazi loose threads: Spec Ops Vets Speak

More than 700 veterans of Special Operations have spoken up about Benghazi, and laid a challenge on the table for the loyal opposition to get going and form a special committee that would be focused solely on getting to the bottom of what really happened. With the cooperation of the media, the Obama campaign was able to distract (recall that during the first three days of the incident the media focus was on the inappropriateness of Mitt Romney's timing in speaking out) and dissemble, keeping the nature of the debacle out of the spotlight, with an assist from the Romney campaign.But Special Operations veterans have a special standing to speak out on the affair, for it was their comrades who were on the line. As Catherine Herridge of Fox News reports:

More than 700 Special Operations veterans are urging members of Congress to back a select committee to investigate last year's Benghazi terrorist attack, according to a letter first obtained by Fox News.

The letter from the group, "Special Operations Speaks," supports the appointment of a special committee tasked with the single mission of investigating the attack that left Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans dead, and shut down the CIA operation in an annex of the Benghazi consulate, in the Sept. 11, 2012 attack.

Their concern is very personal:

"America has always held to the notion that no American will be left behind and that every effort will be made to respond when U.S. personnel are threatened. Given our backgrounds, we are concerned that this sends a very negative message to future military and diplomatic personnel," the letter said.

America's military future increasingly revolves around Special Operations, whose members are by definition elite, highly trained, and brave beyond the imagination of most of us. The people who step up and serve, who devote themselves to the nation, and whose lives were on the line, should be hard to silence. The nation's security depends on the willingness of new generations of young Americans to volunteer and persevere in the arduous course ahead. We depend on them, and must listen to their views.

Currently, congressional leaders plan a mélange of investigations:

Before the recent congressional recess, House Speaker John Boehner convened a meeting of three leading Republican senators, John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of Florida [sic - Sen. Graham actually represents South Carolina] and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, as well as the chairmen of the house committees on Intelligence, Oversight and Foreign Affairs, respectively, who are leading their own investigations. Rather than form a select committee, a decision was made to coordinate and pool their findings, to be completed in "weeks, not months."

"We want to make sure that we have a full story of what happened, and where there are conflicting stories, we going to work to de-conflict them," Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers told Fox News on Mar. 21.

His committee counterpart, Democrat Dutch Ruppersberger, said he had "no problem" with his colleagues "continuing to get the facts and data," and suggested the Benghazi issue should not be further politicized.

Time to turn up the heat, and once again Special Operations vets are serving their country.

More than 700 veterans of Special Operations have spoken up about Benghazi, and laid a challenge on the table for the loyal opposition to get going and form a special committee that would be focused solely on getting to the bottom of what really happened. With the cooperation of the media, the Obama campaign was able to distract (recall that during the first three days of the incident the media focus was on the inappropriateness of Mitt Romney's timing in speaking out) and dissemble, keeping the nature of the debacle out of the spotlight, with an assist from the Romney campaign.

But Special Operations veterans have a special standing to speak out on the affair, for it was their comrades who were on the line. As Catherine Herridge of Fox News reports:

More than 700 Special Operations veterans are urging members of Congress to back a select committee to investigate last year's Benghazi terrorist attack, according to a letter first obtained by Fox News.

The letter from the group, "Special Operations Speaks," supports the appointment of a special committee tasked with the single mission of investigating the attack that left Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans dead, and shut down the CIA operation in an annex of the Benghazi consulate, in the Sept. 11, 2012 attack.

Their concern is very personal:

"America has always held to the notion that no American will be left behind and that every effort will be made to respond when U.S. personnel are threatened. Given our backgrounds, we are concerned that this sends a very negative message to future military and diplomatic personnel," the letter said.

America's military future increasingly revolves around Special Operations, whose members are by definition elite, highly trained, and brave beyond the imagination of most of us. The people who step up and serve, who devote themselves to the nation, and whose lives were on the line, should be hard to silence. The nation's security depends on the willingness of new generations of young Americans to volunteer and persevere in the arduous course ahead. We depend on them, and must listen to their views.

Currently, congressional leaders plan a mélange of investigations:

Before the recent congressional recess, House Speaker John Boehner convened a meeting of three leading Republican senators, John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of Florida [sic - Sen. Graham actually represents South Carolina] and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, as well as the chairmen of the house committees on Intelligence, Oversight and Foreign Affairs, respectively, who are leading their own investigations. Rather than form a select committee, a decision was made to coordinate and pool their findings, to be completed in "weeks, not months."

"We want to make sure that we have a full story of what happened, and where there are conflicting stories, we going to work to de-conflict them," Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers told Fox News on Mar. 21.

His committee counterpart, Democrat Dutch Ruppersberger, said he had "no problem" with his colleagues "continuing to get the facts and data," and suggested the Benghazi issue should not be further politicized.

Time to turn up the heat, and once again Special Operations vets are serving their country.